cinco de mayo
Started President Presentations:
Dwight Eisenhower
- Background: born October 1890 in Denison Texas; tiny house near railroad tracks; father=david, Mother=Ida; West Point in free attendance, graduated top of class, stationed in Texas, Second Lieutanent and first after marriage to Mamie Doud; Son died of scarlet fever; Ft. Leavenworth; served under MacArthur; Supreme commander over D-Day
- Elections involved in: Never voted before;
- Top Ten: Kept America at peace; he ended Korean War; balanced budget 3 times; sponsored and signed the federal aid Highway Act of 1956 and the Civil Rights Bill of 1957; signed the housing amendments of 1955; Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas which started desegregation in schools;
- Popularity rating:
- Summary of Legacy: proposed a peaceful solution for a war-ravaged world to give everyday citizens of different countries the opportunity to meet and get to know each other, and the result will be understanding, friendship and lasting peace; out of this vision came the "people to people" movement and the inspiration for People to People Ambassador Programs
JFK
- Background: born May 1917 in Brooklyn Mass.; 3 bros 5 sisters; attended many grade schools; moved to Bronx; Sept. 1936 enrolled at Harvard, varsity swim, traveled overseas many times; medically unfit for Army due to back problems, received Navy and Marine Corps medal, returned to US in 1944, honorably discharged, received purple heart; 1946 James Michael Curley vacated his seat and Kennedy took it; Beat Henry Cabot Lodge III, given Catholic Last Rites, reelected in 1958 in large margin;
- Elections: 1956, ran for vice, lost; Democratic 1960= closest election in history against Richard Nixon, JFK won popular and electoral, but Nixon won more states; first roman catholic pres, youngest, first pres to be born in 20th century; "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country; shot in Dallas and killed, buried in Arlington National Cemetery
- Top Ten: first catholic pres; called Americans to serve their country; establishment of the Peace Corps; diverted nuke war w/USSR and Cuba; committed to landing man on the moon, which happened under LBJ; nuke test ban treaty; area redevelopment act; laws against segregation; promoted the arts; prohibited discrimination in the sale or lease of housing that was financed by federal loans or owned by federal government
- Popularity Rating: considered #1; 90% approve of the job he did
- Legacy: left an unfinished life
Comments